A HISTORY OF THE REDEYED DOVE IN THE SOUTHWESTERN CAPE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

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Abstract
Brooke, R. K. 1984. A history of the Redeyed Dove in the southwestern Cape Province, South Africa. Ostrich 55:12-16. At present the Redeyed Dove occurs throughout the southwestern Cape although more sparsely in the arid northwest. The literature is confused on whether the Redeyed Dove Streptopelia semitorquata has always existed in the southwestern Cape, has immigrated from the southern or eastern Cape or was introduced to the area in 1933 at Elgin from stock bred up from an importation from Beira, Moçambique. Evidence is presented that it has always been present in the southwestern Cape. The birds introduced near Elgin came from a short-winged, richly coloured population of nominate semitorquata whereas the indigenous birds belong to the long-winged, pallid australis. Specimens shot in the 1940s and 1950s show the characteristics of a hybrid swarm between the two races and more recent data suggest that this condition persists.